Assembling an M1 Garand Rifle From Parts
Determining the Vintage and Source of the Parts

Determining the Vintage and Source
of M1 Garand Parts

If you're doing a Garand "build", as opposed to a restoration
of a complete gun, you will probably get a kit of parts
instead of buying everything individually.
The collection of parts in the kit probably didn't come
from one original rifle.
Even if it did, that rifle had probably been through at
least one armory refurbishment.
The M1 Garand was the standard service rifle from 1936
through 1957.
The result is that the parts kit represents a wide range
of places and dates of manufacturing.
However, it is possible to figure out when and where
Garand parts were manufactured, at least within ranges
of time.

History of the M1 Garand

John C Garand worked at
the US Army's Springfield Armory
and designed a series of closely related rifles
through the 1920s and early 1930s.
These were evaluated in trials to replace the M1903 Springfield
bolt-action rifle with a self-loading design.

He designed the T1E2 in 1932.

In August 1933 the T1E2 was designated the
Semi-Automatic Rifle, Caliber .30, M1.

In 1936 the M1 Garand replaced the M1903 Springfield
as the standard service rifle,
the M1903 remaining in use as a sniper weapon.

In 1939 the original gas trap was replaced
with a simpler and more reliable gas port system.
The patent drawings for the gas trap and gas port
are seen at left and right, respectively.

A little over 5,500,000 M1 Garands were manufactured during
the years 1936 through 1957 when it was the standard
service rifle.
A little over 4 million were manufactured before and
during World War II, by the federal armory in
Springfield, Massachusetts,
and by Harrington & Richardson and International Harvester.
During the Korean War, the same manufacturers produced
roughly another 1.5 million Garands.

Note that the Springfield Armory,
now a National Historic Site,
operated
from 1794 through 1968.
However,
Springfield Armory, Inc.,
based in Geneseo, Illinois,
simply uses the "Springfield Armory" name and has no
connection with the national armory.
When the armory closed in 1968, a small company in Texas used
the name for a few years.
That business was unsuccessful, and then in 1974,
the Illinois company was founded.

The M1 remained the standard service rifle of the U.S. until
the M14 was officially adopted in 1957.
However, the changeover from M1 to M14 in the active-duty
component of the U.S. Army was not completed until 1963,
and it was used in the U.S. Army Reserve,
U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Navy at least into the 1970s.
Among several other nations using it,
it was the standard service rifle in:

Greece until the late 1970s

Haiti until the disbanding of the Haitian military
in 1994

The M1 Garand is still in use
in the Philippines in the
Civilian Auxiliary Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU)
and the Civilian Volunteer Organization.

I am skeptical of the book's accuracy.
It is based on specifications in the public domain
and it is on its fourth edition,
but obvious errors still remain.

For example, the exploded view diagram refers to components
of the rear sight as being parts of the front sight!
Also, the discussion of Figures 8, 9, and 10A (further into
the book, the figures in Chapter 1 aren't even numbered)
is terribly confusing until you realize that
those three figures are misnumbered.

It is also poorly designed.
Who would publish that type of book without an index?

But it seems to be the best single source of information
that's available.
All the below details on type and manufacturer
come from that book.
Their book contains an appendix based on data from a
series of books by Scott Duff,
and that was used for the date references.

Bolt

Revision 18 means rifle serial number range
3,250,000 - 3,300,000,
so it was manufactured during December 1944.

A-4♦ is the steel heat treatment
lot number.
That last character is a diamond,
in case your browser can't handle
Unicode.

The indentation visible above the drawing number is a
punch mark used to test the Rockwell Hardness
during manufacturing quality control.

Remember that the punch mark just means that it has been
tested.
It does not indicate the result of that test!
But I would expect failed bolts to have been destroyed,
the steel thrown back into the smelter
for the next go-around during December 1944.
The war was moving toward a fairly obvious conclusion then,
but quality steel was still a valuable resource.
If nothing else, failed bolts would surely be obviously
marked or better yet destroyed
("de-militarized", or "de-milled")
to prevent their accidental use.

There is a discussion of the steel used to make some of
the M1 Garand bolts in Hatcher's Notebook,
Julian S Hatcher, Major General, U.S. Army, retired,
The Telegraph Press,
1947.

Elevation knob and pinion.

Using standard M2 Ball .30-06 ammunition,
therefore standardized powder charge and
bullet weight and aerodynamics,
each click changes the elevation by one minute of arc,
or 0.96 inch at 100 yards,
or 2.67 cm at 100 meters.

This specific design
paired with the Springfield Type 3 windage knob
is of post World War II manufacture.

Operating Rod

Operating rod handle.

The operating rod was of Types 6A through 11
based on the squared straight-sided hump seen here.

Stamped with drawing number:D35382 9-SA

That plus the flat surface of the bolt lug housing
seen above means it's Type 6A,
so serial number range of approximately
3,450,001 - 3,850,000.

So, it was manufactured some time
January through June, 1945.

The rounded notch labeled here would have been done
during post-WWII modification.
This change from what was a square corner reduced stress.

Follower Rod Assembly

Type 5, based on riveted assembly, depth of notch,
and lack of grooves.

So it's one of these three:

Springfield ~2,500,000 to end of production
(post December 1943),

Winchester ~2,500,000 to end of production
(post June 1944),

All IH and H&R and refurbishment (post-WWII).

Operating Rod Catch Assembly

Type 2, forks (pointing down in picture)
of slightly different width: 0.07" and 0.10".

Manufactured after the change from Type 1 in late 1940 to
early 1941.

Follower Arm

Type 4 based on the shape of its head, at left in
this picture.

Design used after approximate serial number 290,000,
so manufactured after June 1941.

Follower Arm Pin

Type 2, narrower diameter at both ends of pin.

Design used by Springfield and Winchester during
most of World War II.

Safety is marked SA-11,
so it is Type 3C.
Manufactured by Springfield Armory.
Serial numbers 2,000,000 to end of production,
so any time after September 1943.

Gas Cylinder Assembly

The gas cylinder is Type 2C
(front sight base is 0.840" long and 0.575" wide)
manufactured by Springfield Armory
(flat top on rear ring).

Serial numbers 1,600,000 through the end of production,
so any time after April 1943.

You may have noticed that the other parts were all
parkerized,
with a light grey matte finish.
The gas cylinder looks rather different, with a color
closer to black and a rough surface, looking almost greasy
in places.

The gas cylinder is made of stainless steel to withstand
the high gas temperatures.
This made for a fairly large and very reflective part
near the muzzle.

Chemical blackening can be used to greatly reduce
the reflections from this part.
This isn't a colored coating, like paint, but it is a
chemical reaction that darkens stainless steel.
Think about that: it changes the color of otherwise stainless
steel.
So yes, it involves some rather caustic chemicals.
We used
Caswell's stainless steel blackener.

Back in the day, the men in the field re-blackened their
gas cylinders from time to time using smoke from a campfire,
a candle, or a trusty Zippo.

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